Drowning Lily

A hidden danger in the swamp

The lily itself is not drowning, boy. It'll be you if you don't keep your wits about you.

— Swamp dweller to a curious child

The drowning lily is an aquatic plant found in the swamps of central Caia, most prevalent in the country of Kaien. It is named for the unfortunate frequency of drowning accidents amongst young children in the waters where it grows.

Morphology

Classification

Despite its name, the drowning lily is neither a lily nor a water lily. It is, in fact, a species of pitcher plant.

The drowning lily has several large, round leaves that float on the surface of the water. Each dark green leaf has a lip that prevents water from flooding over the top. The largest of these is known as the primary leaf, and generally grows to around three feet across. The leaves that surround it are smaller, up to a third of the size.

The primary leaf is not actually one solid leaf. It has a hidden slit across the middle, where the two halves of the leaf overlap. Underneath is a large bulbous chamber, or sac, which usually is around four feet deep. This chamber contains a pool of digestive acid, and the sides are covered in slippery, downward-pointing hairs. If prey - generally a frog, toad, or a small rodent - lands on the leaf, they fall through into the chamber and are trapped.
The surrounding leaves are known as satellite leaves. They provide a safe place for prey to sit, giving them a false sense of security. In the warmer months, pale yellow flowers the size of dinner plates join the satellite leaves congregating around the primary leaf. These are not used for reproduction, but they attract insects that in turn entice the drowning lily's prey.
The drowning lily has a large, single stem that extends down under the water. Smaller, thinner stems extend off this main stem, attached to both the satellite leaves and flowers. The main stem is thick and straight, and is full of air pockets that aid the plant's buoyancy.
At the end of the stem is a large, spreading root system. It stretches out to almost ten foot across, anchoring the drowning lily safely in the soft mud.

Alternative Names

Frog-Eating Waterleaf, Toadsnacker, The Queen's Favour

Rarity

Uncommon

Lifespan

Cultivated drowning lilies have been known to live up to one hundred years. In the wild, the oldest known specimen lived to around seventy years old.

Size
The average drowning lily has a primary leaf of around three feet across, with its digestive chamber being an average of four feet deep. Satellite leaves can be up to a foot across, though generally do not grow that large.
The largest known specimen's primary leaf was five and a half feet wide, with a digestive chamber seven foot deep. Rumours and stories of larger drowning lilies exist, though are currently unfounded.

by sandid

Reproduction

The drowning lily reproduces asexually, meaning that it does not need another plant to procreate. When there are lots of nutrients available and the weather is warm, some of the satellite leaves will convert into baby drowning lilies. They will develop the split leaf and the underwater chamber, and begin to grow a root system from their stem.
When large enough, these young plants will detach from the parent plant. Though the waters are generally still, some of these plants can end up miles away from their parent through a combination of uncommon wind and the ripples formed by boats and large beasts.
Eventually, the stem and root system grow long and deep enough to anchor the young plant into place.

Symbiosis

A close relationship exists between the drowning lily and the lily-shadow spider. The spider lives within the digestive sac, its exoskeleton having evolved to withstand the lily's acid. The barbed hairs on the spider's feet allow it to cling to the slick walls of the sac where other creatures cannot.
The lily-shadow spider cleans up any material that may take the plant longer to digest, such as bone. The spider extracts the nutrients from these materials and uses the remnants to construct a globular nest attached to the side of the digestive sac. This prevents the plant from becoming too heavy and sinking, and provides the spider with enough food for itself and any offspring it may have.
When the offspring mature, they can easily emerge from the slit in the leaf and travel to find homes of their own. Their feet do not break the surface tension of the water, and so they are easily able to skitter across the swamp.

by ROverhate

Uses

The acid of the drowning lily is collected by several cultures throughout central Caia. The acid is often harvested from immature plants that are still attached to the parent. This is done to lower the risk of flooding and killing established plants.
In traditional Kaienese herbalism, the acid is used as a key ingredient in an ointment to treat a variety of acute skin conditions, such as boils or cysts.
In Eshua, a small vial of acid is consumed to deal with constipation. It is believed that the extra acid will aid with digestion.
The acid of the drowning lily is also a component to the lethal injection used in certain political executions in Caillah. The addition of this acid is believed to make the death particulalry painful.

A Fashionable Fad

The people who live in the Gravelands, a swamp in western Kaien, have the satellite leaves of the drowning lily as a staple part of their diet. An acquired taste, the leaves have been described as exceedingly bitter.
Currently, it has become a trend amongst the Kaienese court to serve these leaves at their banquets. In most cases, guests pretend to enjoy them to not appear rude or to have bad taste.

Cultural Significance

The Silent Maiden

In the Palus Swamp in southern Eshua, it is believed that a drowning lily marks the home of a silent maiden.
These restless spirits are said to be young, childless women who drowned in the swamp. They lure children into the water because they long to mother them. When the child inevitably drowns, the spirit becomes distraught, and their desire grows stronger.

by Felipe Vieira

Across Caia, the drowning lily is believed to be a danger to small children living in or around the swamps. Whether it is because the child is trying to catch a frog or believes that they can sit comfortably on the leaves, several drowning accidents are attributed to them each year. In most cases, the child becomes entangled in the digestive sac, and the whole plant sinks under the weight. This kills both child and plant, which cannot recover after its sac is flooded with water. They are infamous enough that often even unrelated drowning accidents are blamed on them.
In Serukis, the drowning lily is used as a major part of the heraldry of the Low Lord Dunn and his family. Their land encompasses Serukis's largest swamp, which originally was intended to be a veiled insult from the crown. The family's ancestors, however, fully embraced the challenge and defiantly took the drowning lily as their standard.

The Queen's Favour

One of the most famous stories surrounding the drowning lily is how it got its nickname - the queen's favour. Around five hundred years ago, Queen Alice II of Kaien was rumoured to have two drowning lilies in a private garden in the palace . It was also rumoured that these plants were much larger than typical. Stories vary, but the most commonly cited measurement is a primary leaf of ten feet wide.
It is said that when someone offended the queen, she would request from them a favour, though this was not a request they could refuse. This favour would be to serve as the next meal for her treasured drowning lilies.

Sebastian had been stripped naked, his wrists bound. The Queen did not attend, but still, he did not struggle. He still had his dignity. He was flanked by two guards, stone-faced. They almost looked bored by the occasion, as though this had happened too many times to count.
As they pushed him forward, Sebastian's bare feet slipped a little on the wet grass. One of the guards steadied him, gripping his elbow tightly as they continued to steer him towards the pond. The drowning lily was there, its enormous leaf shifting gently with the breeze.
Sebastian hestitated at the water, his face pale and fear in his eyes. I regret to say at that moment I looked away, afraid of what I might see. When I looked back, Sebastian was gone. The lily remained intact. The only sign that anything untoward had happened were the ripples that now lapped threateningly against the bank.

- An excerpt from a contemporary journal

Most modern Kaienese scholars believe these stories to be untrue - or, at the very least, greatly exaggerated. They argue that, even if the claimed size of the drowning lilies was accurate, this method of execution would sink and kill the plant. Despite this, however, the story is still accepted as fact by most of the Kaienese population.